Author: pierrelord

Thanks for joining me! This is a blog for all things regarding these events. Some points will be governed by rules and regulations, other issues will be advice.

Strength is great. But endurance… That’s a story

Safety

Safety in the water is paramount, so many things can go wrong. For the Palm 2 Shelly swim a Kayak, observer and boat support are required. The boat must be within 20m of the swimmer and kayak 3m. While the risk of a shark attack is low the consequences are high.

Channel preparation

If you are preparing for a channel swim this year, this swim is definitely a great lead up swim, confidence booster and an opportunity to test your nutrition and swim strategy. A great opportunity to meet some incredible people, listen to interesting stories, network and enjoy the company of like minded people.

Save money

Doing endurance sports is an expensive pastime. So I want your expenses to be low where possible. For this reason, I accept that swimmers can swim with either one or two other swimmers (maximum 3) to keep boat costs down. However, swimmers should be the same pace and you will need to go as fast as the slowest swimmer and stay within your support vessel 20m range. Swim strategy and pace rate is a discussion for “your” group and not one that I can engage in.

Interstate or International swimmers

If you are coming from interstate or international and flying in… Make sure you get a flexi ticket. If weather conditions are too bad then the swim will be cancelled till safer conditions are favourable. We should know in the week leading up to the race if conditions are favourable. This will be determined by the Burea of Meteorology. These predictions and weather conditions will dictate if your vessel can go out offshore open water and provide support. The owner or skipper of the vessel are ultimately responsible for your safety and their guidelines are set by their insurance and acceptable weather conditions for the boat.